Stage IV Rectal Cancer

sisda
sisda Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My brother was diagnosed with rectal cancer in Feb 2003. He found out when he was hospitalized with kidney failure. The tumor (4x7cm) that was eventually visualized on CT had spread to his bladder and obstructed his ureter. After stabilizing his kidney function with dialysis, nephrostomy tubes, and transfusions he left the hospital 14 days later and started chemo. My question is-- does anyone have any experience with this type of invasion. My brother lost his colon 20 years ago to ulcerative colitis. Has lived with his ileostomy all that time. Chemo is being done and radiation will be done in an effort to reduce the tumor size before surgery. His bladder will also be removed. I've moved in with my brother to help him through this as he is not married and is so weak. I'm trying to stay positive despite the gravity of the situation. His chemo (5FU, CPT11, & Leucovorin) is hitting him hard and he battles nausea, vomiting and dehydration constantly. Any feedback or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • iloveron
    iloveron Member Posts: 11
    #2
    Hi sisda, my husband has a different situation but did have chemo and radiation before surgery, which shruck his tumor by 60 percent and made surgery much more successful. Your brothers chemo treatments are like super charged. Is his onocologist giving him anti-nausea medicine. My husband gets some intra with chemo. then a pill in the morning and at night to ward off nausea. and also a pill if it should come on. Your nurse can hooked you up with free samples of this. also try to get him eating a diet that might help avoid nausea, yogurts etc. I'm not as up on that yet and my husband hates yogurt. Take care of yourself, keep your colon healthy this can run in the family. My love and Prayers to you both
  • iloveron
    iloveron Member Posts: 11
    #3
    Hi sisda, my husband has a different situation but did have chemo and radiation before surgery, which shruck his tumor by 60 percent and made surgery much more successful. Your brothers chemo treatments are like super charged. Is his onocologist giving him anti-nausea medicine. My husband gets some intra with chemo. then a pill in the morning and at night to ward off nausea. and also a pill if it should come on. Your nurse can hooked you up with free samples of this. also try to get him eating a diet that might help avoid nausea, yogurts etc. I'm not as up on that yet and my husband hates yogurt. Take care of yourself, keep your colon healthy this can run in the family. My love and Prayers to you both
  • sisda
    sisda Member Posts: 4
    #4
    iloveron said:

    Hi sisda, my husband has a different situation but did have chemo and radiation before surgery, which shruck his tumor by 60 percent and made surgery much more successful. Your brothers chemo treatments are like super charged. Is his onocologist giving him anti-nausea medicine. My husband gets some intra with chemo. then a pill in the morning and at night to ward off nausea. and also a pill if it should come on. Your nurse can hooked you up with free samples of this. also try to get him eating a diet that might help avoid nausea, yogurts etc. I'm not as up on that yet and my husband hates yogurt. Take care of yourself, keep your colon healthy this can run in the family. My love and Prayers to you both

    Hi iloveron. Thanks for your response. My brother will be having another CT scan soon to check the tumor's response to his chemo so far. So we're keeping our fingers crossed and hope the tumor is shrinking. As far as his anti-nausea medicine goes--he gets Anzemet in his premeds, Zofran for a couple of days after chemo, and Reglan and Compozene around the clock. And he still has nausea and vomiting for two or three days after chemo. He also has persistent hiccups for two or three days after chemo. He was prescribed Thorazine for the hiccups--but that only turned him into a zombie & he still had the hiccups. So any suggestions on alternative nausea meds would be really helpful. I've read that Zofran can cause hiccups. So I wonder if Kytril would be a better choice for post-chemo antiemetics. Anyway, thanks again for your feedback. It's great to be able share info like this.
  • pattieb
    pattieb Member Posts: 168
    #5
    sisda said:

    Hi iloveron. Thanks for your response. My brother will be having another CT scan soon to check the tumor's response to his chemo so far. So we're keeping our fingers crossed and hope the tumor is shrinking. As far as his anti-nausea medicine goes--he gets Anzemet in his premeds, Zofran for a couple of days after chemo, and Reglan and Compozene around the clock. And he still has nausea and vomiting for two or three days after chemo. He also has persistent hiccups for two or three days after chemo. He was prescribed Thorazine for the hiccups--but that only turned him into a zombie & he still had the hiccups. So any suggestions on alternative nausea meds would be really helpful. I've read that Zofran can cause hiccups. So I wonder if Kytril would be a better choice for post-chemo antiemetics. Anyway, thanks again for your feedback. It's great to be able share info like this.

    hen I was going thru my chemo it seemed nothing would help the nausea or it would help for a little while, but the nurses at the center when I went gave me some Kytril and that was the one that did the trick, I still had a little nausea but not like before. He could also try some pot I hear that it works wonders.
  • pattieb
    pattieb Member Posts: 168
    #6
    sisda said:

    Hi iloveron. Thanks for your response. My brother will be having another CT scan soon to check the tumor's response to his chemo so far. So we're keeping our fingers crossed and hope the tumor is shrinking. As far as his anti-nausea medicine goes--he gets Anzemet in his premeds, Zofran for a couple of days after chemo, and Reglan and Compozene around the clock. And he still has nausea and vomiting for two or three days after chemo. He also has persistent hiccups for two or three days after chemo. He was prescribed Thorazine for the hiccups--but that only turned him into a zombie & he still had the hiccups. So any suggestions on alternative nausea meds would be really helpful. I've read that Zofran can cause hiccups. So I wonder if Kytril would be a better choice for post-chemo antiemetics. Anyway, thanks again for your feedback. It's great to be able share info like this.

    hen I was going thru my chemo it seemed nothing would help the nausea or it would help for a little while, but the nurses at the center when I went gave me some Kytril and that was the one that did the trick, I still had a little nausea but not like before. He could also try some pot I hear that it works wonders.
  • sisda
    sisda Member Posts: 4
    #7
    pattieb said:

    hen I was going thru my chemo it seemed nothing would help the nausea or it would help for a little while, but the nurses at the center when I went gave me some Kytril and that was the one that did the trick, I still had a little nausea but not like before. He could also try some pot I hear that it works wonders.

    Hi pattieb--thanks for your reply. As it turns out I requested that the oncology nurse let my brother try Kytril instead of Zofran for the post-chemo nausea. You're right--it seemed to help reduce the nausea much better. And he also was not plagued with the hiccups that he had had previously. He also tried marinol (legal THC) but I think the dosage was too low to help (2.5 mg). We'll consider asking for the 10mg dosage that I've read is more likely to help. Thanks.

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